OxfordComma
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Everything posted by OxfordComma
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This starts out kind of funky-mothbally, Narcissus stretching its legs. That bit recedes quite a bit within the first few minutes for me, thankfully. The dry down is immensely familiar to me. I can't ID exactly but it's the scent of some beauty product or maybe a combo of beauty products that my mom and grandmother used. It makes me think of expensive creams in sleek packaging. An airy vanilla floral, loaded with saffron. Incredible throw. No idea where the heavily creamy, as in lotion, not cream cream, vibe is coming from. It's quite nice once it gets past the funk zone.
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I'm not sure I've tried Shanghai, but this immediately made me think of Bugbear Doula! Citrusy white tea is the loudest both in the bottle and on, which is fine by me because I love their white tea note. The frankincense smoke is truly airy, a light tendril of scent. The white tea and ambergris combo makes me think of seafoam, not like... realistically, but fantasy seafoam. Birth of Venus vibes. Wispy and romantic is a great description! This has pretty good throw for me, and lasts a decent while for so many 'lighter' notes. If this was an Ars Anni I think it would something like a Sorolla, maybe Walk on the Beach or, better yet, Niña. Whimsical yet poignant.
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Wow this is pretty! Velvety rose petals scattered over resins and softly glowing amber. The iris adds a cool edge to this, while the beeswax softens the edges. Really really pretty. Reminds me of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Incredible throw on this one! Barely applied and my whole living room is a rose temple. I actually have a rose petal rosary I bought at Our Lady of Guadalupe some 20 years ago and it still has a faint scent and this is spot on for it! That rosary smelled fantastic for a solid decade and I was sad when it started to fade, so very happy to have a wearable version.
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Yep, that is gummy fangs! Like uncannily. Smells like a bag of red gummies, but with that odd creamy vibe that opaque gummies have. Starts out with insane throw. I put a tiny dab on the back of my hand and it overran what I wearing on my neck. But it dies back and stays fairly close to the skin after that. It's quite nice, if you want to smell like gummies.
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I agree with, well, all of these reviews. The facets of fur and yeast are drenched in a honeyed toffee and something inexplicably rosey. It kind of reminds me of Marthe Bibescu but where that one was crisp, brittle toffee this is the confection whilst it's cooking: sticky sweet and melted. Wet, it's a bit much for me with the brown buttery-toffee-honey throwing like crazy, but as it dries it gets a lot more wearable and complex. Still retains solid throw! A lot more complex than expected from two notes, I suspect 'ethereal lure' might be it's own thing.
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Update: I've worn this a couple times since my original review and the animalic/goat vibe is much less pronounced, so idk if it was just a weird sinus day or hormones or what. The oudh reads more woody with just a touch of barn. Still no sign of booze. It's really quite nice all around and the lack of goat makes it much more publicly wearable haha. The reviews made me very curious about this one, despite not normally going for chocolate scents. This smells like rich hot chocolate and a whiff of...goat. Surely the oudh, but I can't help but think of goats. It's not stanky per se, but more... animalic in a furry or hay way. No pooudh here, for me anyways. I don't detect any booze at all, surprisingly. I don't drink so those notes usually stand out to me, but I'm not mad about it. It was the note I was most concerned about haha. Or maybe it's rather peaty and combining with the oudh to give me the hay impression? 🤔 Longevity is not supreme, but throw is good. Growing up we always went to a holiday event held by a large church in our area that went balls to the wall on Christmas lights. Acres of em. They served free hot chocolate that was approximately 600° in little styrofoam cups and you walked around holding it for warmth more than anything because it was undrinkable for like a solid hour. They also had a petting zoo of little goats and ponies and rabbits. This smells exactly like those nights. It's the scent of riding the little train because my mom loved it and scalding the fuck out of your mouth because the cocoa smells drinkable but is actual magma. The Yules this year really came for my nostalgia, man.
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For some reason both fresh and now months later, this smells like nag champa incense and clove to me. I have no idea where the spicy note is coming from but it reminds me very much of the clove cigarette smoke in Black Lipstick. So, yea. Spicy nag champa. 🤷♀️ No idea why lol
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I just found my Weenie 'maybe' pile to retest before they come down! So here we go. I... also get lime? I remember this reminding me of *something* when I tested it originally so maybe it was Mr Nancy? I don't really recall getting lime before but maybe??? Otherwise, I get a lot of dirt so I'm assuming I didn't get a Lime Green mixup. Maybe some weird combo of the moss and Dorian is resulting in a pithy lime vibe? 🤔 Regardless, I actually like this a lot now. It's dirt but like...✨suave dirt.✨ A little snake oil vanilla sweetness peaking through, a little airy Dorian clawing out of the grave. The dirt note is milder now than I recall, less petrichory. I think I shall toss a bottle in my order. It's got a kind of 'nice bog witch' energy that I strive for.
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There were so many great Yules this year but this might be my favourite? Soft gingerbread, cuddly brown musk, and a dusting of warm patchouli. It's so comforting. Baking unhinged gingerbread cookies has been a family tradition for decades and this is the perfect scent for that. Spiced baked goods and cozy vibes. Not super foodie but not not foodie. Great throw and longevity.
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This starts out very leather centric with a splash of an aquaticy-cucumbery thing that I've heard other people get from some lab paper notes, but I don't think I've encountered? There's something vaguely chemical/dye feeling that I often get from old book themed perfumes. I'm assuming it's something used to add a dustiness or aged feel but that reads really wonky to my nose. It's not as strong here as it has been in other scents, and burns off quickly. This dries down to well kept leather bound books, mixed with worn clothbound books, and a bit of old paperbacks. Maybe something like soft incense, but that may be an errant woody note. I can't fully shake the aquatic note, which ends up smells like cool damp air. Kind of adds a feeling of being inside on a cool day with the windows open and it's gently raining. It's not terribly strong, but it's a nice 'clean but cavernous bookstore' scent.
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Frog Moon: Iris and Wild Patchouli
OxfordComma replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Really, really lovely. The way these notes combine is an almost atmospheric gardening scent. The iris is purple and airy. Simultaneously dry and greenly floral. The Patchouli is earthy and rooty without being the usual hippie patch. In fact my patch-hater partner didn't ID this as patchouli at all, and actually likes this perfume quite a bit! Smells like a cool toned dusty purple. I hope the lab does more patch floral combos like this, it's such a stunner. -
This was one I grabbed a sample of at launch and then decided not to keep... But then I kept thinking about it and thinking about it and wanting to smell it again. So I grabbed a bottle. The first impression was, and is, not great for me haha. It reminds me of this nail polish remover I had, like, in the 90s. Scented, pink, with a built in felt pad scrubby thing. Super effective, probably full of carcinogens. Anyways, that's what this smells like at first. But after that brief foray into yesteryear, it emerges triumphant in all it's pastel neutral-tone fair isle knit glory. Dry crunchy leaves skitter at your feet, the cool autumn wind whipping them into dust devils. But you are cozy and warm in your fuzzy sweater and scarf combo (matching, of course). Nice throw and incredible longevity. I could smell it on my sweater days later when doing the laundry. Sidenote: the DL here is not the cronchy bell pepper one or particularly cologney imo. It's a much softer, crumbly dry forest floor vibe. Not sure if it's a different version of the note or just the way it combined with the other notes but, I realllllly like it.
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A misty river bank, lined with dewy night-blooming lilies, gently illuminated by the moon peeking between the clouds. The musk is aquatic without being blue musk, ozonic without being shrill. The lily note is really lovely, but not overt. Like smelling flowers on the air but you can't pinpoint where it's coming from. This is really pretty and perfect for the line, but maybe too aquatic for my tastes. If it were an Ars Anni scent it would be something like Steck's Ophelia. Tragic, moody, and softly luminescent.
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The "little full, lotta sap" scent from Christmas Vacation now conveniently bottled for your wearing enjoyment. A face full of sticky sap, romanticised with glowing golden amber and lightly dusted with fireplace ash. All the Yules I've tried this year have a lovely sort of nostalgic whimsy to them and this also kind of has that vibe to me, but maybe it's just my associations with the movie haha. Pretty solid throw and wear length!
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When I first got this I was wondering why I ordered so many beeswax scents. 😅 For some reason, in the bottle this had that same vibe of the lab's warm, sweet beeswax note. On skin though, it's a whole other story. This is incredibly pretty. It's soft without being a low throw/skin scent. A sort of lightweight, easy elegance. It's creamy and floral and spiced but not overtly any of those things. It's a pastel neutral kaleidoscope of sheer notes and cozy vibes. Great everyday scent.
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Echoing the above reviews for 2025! I'm not Filipino, but I grew up in a very Filipino community so the nostalgia hits hard here. When I first got my bottle, the sticky sweet turon/banana, sticky rice and custardy flan notes came across as way too much for me, who isn't much on gourmands. But either with some rest, or because the weather has warmed up (by Scottish standards), this has quite literally blossomed. A riot of lush humid florals and turon piled on a sweet base of rice, ube and flan. And if I sniff close to the skin, I get the delicious chocolatey scent of champorado! Makes me homesick haha. Starts out with crazy throw on me, but settles into a much more public transit friendly level after half an hour or so.
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I'm an absolute fiend for Turner, his art just does something for me, so since the notes also sounded innocuous enough, I had to grab this. It starts off very.... Gun? Like a well kept antique gun. A scent I grew up with, so quite a bit of unexpected nostalgia. I might have to return to this and re-review it when it's not so unexpectedly lever-actiony, but as is, if you wanted to smell like a slightly rugged gunslinger or a noir detective, this one's for you. Re-Review: ok, still smells gun-adjacent but I can parse out the notes a bit better if I sniff point blank. Brown leather, ash and a subtle sweet edge from the burnt sugar, which smells like maybe turbinado or something similar to me. Smoky without being too heavy. Curious to see how this wears as the weather starts to warm, I could see this being a neat summer scent in cooler climes. Another Ars Anni that really nails the vibe of the painting!
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I've tried a couple things with white honey and I'm not sure I've ever been able to pick it out before, but here I think I can finally put my finger on it. A sort of crystallized honey with an almost menthol hint, drizzled over fresh pansy petals floating in cream. Fully agree with the Poinsettia Gown comparison. This feels like a slightly more Golden Afternoon version of that scent palette. Up close, it does read powdery to me, but the throw is very creamy. Not quite as gourmand as a floral buttercream but not so cosmetic as cold cream. This feels really nice and wearable in any setting but it's absolutely perfect for Mother's Day afternoon tea, which is what I'm wearing it to today haha
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This does feel very much like a Victorian Christmas card in scent form. Fir dusted with honey powder, draped with dried floral garlands and velvet and chiffon ribbons. One of those Victorian-inspired 90's holiday magazine spreads where everything is white and cream, gold accents against evergreen branches. It smells fancy but whimsical, and it's a really unique holiday/fir scent in my collection. Absolutely fits the painting perfectly.
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I waffled on this one in my first Yules order (hahaaaaa🫠 it's a dangerous time of year for me), but the reviews convinced me to trust the process and ignore the pumpkin, which never agrees with me. Thank you forumites and your reviews! This is perfect!!! This is the holiday parties of my childhood in 4k. The spiced fruitiness, the cozy warmth. You know that scene in the Wilder Willy Wonka movie where they go through the kaliedoscopic tunnel? It's that but with every lovely holiday scent imaginable. A melange of nostalgia. It settles into a cozy spiced fruitiness, gilt with resins and wax. Really lovely. Perfectly executed.
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Oh man, this is so pretty. I adore the lab's Bulgarian rose note so whenever it pops up, I'm on it. I'm not normally keen on coffee scents (despite drinking a ridiculous amount of coffee) but the allure of a B. Rose duet was irresistible. I am so glad I went for it! The rose is gorgeous, not the snapped green stem freshness of Rose Red and less deep velvet of Peacock Queen. It smells like the platonic ideal of a Valentine's bouquet. The coffee smells like walking in to a space where coffee is being brewed more than huffing the beans directly. It's a very romantic type scent: coffee and roses in the morning. It's not terribly strong but I absolutely don't care because it's just so enjoyable. Occasionally, I threaten my wallet with the concept of a back-up bottle, but so far I've always managed to talk myself out of it. But I'm a sucker for rose lattes and this is like wearing one without all the embarassment of spilling it all over yourself. My wallet better gird its loins. 😤
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Echoing the above, this is quite nice! The wool indeed smells warm, like drying your scarf over a radiator. I don't get any funkiness from the milk and the cacao isn't very strong, both of which I'm very thankful for because I was worried about those two. Overall it smells like a coming in from the cold to a toasty, cozy home and being greeted with a hug. I really like this (and for some reason it makes me think of To A Wreath of Snow but I don't have that any longer to compare, and there's no notes in common iirc so I've no idea why!)
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This makes me think of Mr. Ibis, the dry paleness of it, but instead of his scrubbed clean musks, it's accented by a soft spiciness and chalk. The chalk has an almost...dampness to it? A hint of sea? Maybe that's just my associations because my partner is a geologist lol. This is really lovely and definitely could be a genteel skeleton's signature scent. I get a little bit of throw but overall it is demure and mindful. Pairs really lovely with my lavender deodorant!
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This was one of my Unexpected Weenie Wins™! It does indeed smell just like dried mango imo, a big boop of tropical fruitiness out of gate. The clove is the cozy, wafting spicy kind, not too aggressive, just enough to warm the scent up and make it interesting. I agree with the above comment about the clove turning it from an ostensibly summer scent into an unexpected cold weather scent as well. I wasnt expecting to love it, but I've liked several of the other Blow Molds so I figured what the heck. Big "Christmas in the Tropics" vibes.
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Dead leaves has marigold in a chokehold and it looked like the fight was over but WHAT'S THAT?? BY GOD IT'S ROSE WITH A STEEL CHAIR!!! Unfortunately rose teams up with dead leaves and marigold is tag teamed into oblivion. I like this quite a bit as an interesting autumn rose. A bottle will be contemplated.